NEW YORK – Fast upon her election as the first woman president of the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce, Nancy (Athanassia) Papaioannou was unanimously appointed President of the Atlantic Bank division of New York Commercial Bank, a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp, Inc. by the members of its advisory board.

Papaioannou follows in the footsteps of Spiros J. Voutsinas, who excelled as president of the bank from the time of his appointment in 2006 until he passed away on April 9, 2014.

Joseph R. Ficalora, President and Chief Executive Officer of New York Community Bancorp kept his promise to the community that a Greek-American will be selected to be president.

In an interview earlier this year with TNH, Ficalora spoke about Voutsinas’ contributions to the bank and to the community he loved, and said, “…he was a great man. He was excellent and served the banking community for many decades.”

Ficalora said that the presidency of Atlantic Bank is “a position that is very highly regarded by many – more than I had realized – in the Greek community…so it will take a little while to make the right choice.”

A number of members of the advisory board have conveyed their congratulations and thoughts about Papaioannou’s selection to The National Herald.
Andreas Jacovides, former Cypriot ambassador to the US said it is “An excellent choice, which I was pleased to support as a member of the Bank’s Advisory Board. Having known Nancy for some years as head of Premier Banking, I have no doubt she will live up to and exceed the expectations of all of us associated with the Atlantic Bank.
The board was happy to announce that Nancy Papaioannou as the new president of Atlantic Bank, Comin Nicholas Kafes told TNH. “She has been with the bank for almost 20 years and the board felt that she was qualified to carry forward the vision of Spiros Voutsinas, who outlined the path for bank to re-establish its Greek heritage and serve the community.”
Lou Katsos, the Executive VP of HAAC believes it was an excellent and historic choice, calling her well-qualified. He said the members of HAAC expected the result given her contributions through the years to the bank and to the community. “She is someone who fights and makes sacrifices for the good and I believe she will be good both for the bank and the community,” he said.
Savas Constantinides said “As a member of the Advisory Board of Atlantic Bank, I would like to welcome Nancy Papaioannou to her new role as President of Atlantic Bank. Spyros Voutsinas has left a large void that ordinarily would have been difficult to fill but, having known Nancy and her work with Atlantic Bank over the last two decades, I am confident that she will set a new standard for professional excellence and commitment to the Greek-American community.”

Papaioannou is currently the Senior Vice President of the Private Banking and Correspondent Banking Services of Atlantic Bank, and she continue to oversee the bank’s Premier Banking operations.

The Atlantic Bank Advisory Board also established an Executive Committee today. The Committee includes Ficalora, and Divisional Board members John Catsimatidis, Nicolas Bornozis, Spiros Milonas, and Savas Konstantinides. In addition to the members on this committee, the Atlantic Bank Advisory Board includes Former Ambassador to Cyprus Andrew J. Jacovides, Comin Nicholas Kafes, Mitchell Rutter and John Tsimbinos.
Born, raised, and educated in Athens, where she attended Arsakion, a prestigious preparatory school, as well as the French Academy, at the age of 18 Papaioannou joined the National Bank of Greece and in 1990 was transferred to Atlantic Bank.

In the United States Papaioannou continued her education. She majored in Accounting and Banking and graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a degree in Business Management.

Papaioannou is active in the Greek American Community and is a member of various Greek American organizations in New York.

She became the manager of the Premier Banking Group of Atlantic Bank of New York in February 2001.
In 2006, when Atlantic Bank of New York was acquired by New York Commercial Bank, Papaioannou continued in her leadership role with Premier Banking.

Atlantic Bank of New York was established in the mid 1920s and became a division of New York Commercial Bank on April 28, 2006.

The Commercial Bank serves its customers through 30 full-service branches in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Long Island, and Westchester County, including 18 branches that operate through the Atlantic Bank Division. The Commercial Bank has 30 in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Long Island, and Westchester County, of which 18 operate through the Atlantic Bank Division.